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Mountain Dew Timeline
This page is the most extensive and up-to-date Mountain Dew timeline. It is still under construction and is not perfectly set in stone. If you think the timeline is missing something, please help us by submitting the date and event within the comments section. '1940's' *Early 40's - Brothers Barney and Ally Hartman, who own Hartman Beverage, begin bottling a lithiated-lemon drink to be mixed with hard liquor. It is dubbed "Mountain Dew," a term originally used for Tennessee mountain-made moonshine. *1946 - Bottles of Mountain Dew are given labels featuring the classic hillbilly design. *November 12, 1948 - The Hartman brothers file for and receive a copyright on the Mountain Dew name. *1949 - Barney Hartman dies, leaving Ally as the sole owner of the Mountain Dew name. '1950's' *1954 - Tri-County Beverage begins carrying the first franchise of Mountain Dew. *1955 - Mountain Dew becomes available commercially. These are the first ACL (Applied Color Label) bottles of Mountain Dew, which read: "by Charlie, Jim and Bill." *1955 - Hartman Beverages begins producing the second set of ACL Mountain Dew. These bottles read "by Barney and Ally" because they were originally ordered in 1951, but were stored in a warehouse until then. *1955 - A Pepsi bottling plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina begins bottling Mountain Dew. This is the first time Pepsi notices Mountain Dew's potential. *1957 - Ally Hartman becomes co-owner of the Tip Corporation along with four other men. He then sells the Mountain Dew brand to it. *1959 - A man named Bill Bridgforth is made plant man-manager of Tri-City Beverage in Johnson City, Tennessee. He, along with Bill Jones (one of the Tip Corporation's co-owners) developed a new drink called Tri-City Lemonade. '1960's' *1960 - Bill Bridgforth then merges his Tri-City Lemonade flavor with the Mountain Dew formula, replacing the 7-Up flavor it had been using. (This is the creation of the current flavor Mountain Dew has used to this day.) *1962 - Herman Minges (another co-owner of Tip) also merges Tri-City Lemonade with Mountain Dew in an effort to compete with a local brand called SunDrop Cola. *May 29, 1962 - The Tip Corporation grants its first franchise to Kingston, North Carolina's Pepsi-Cola Bottler. These bottles read "by Hoyte Minges." *September 2, 1964 - Pepsi purchases the Tip Corporation, and with it the Mountain Dew name and rights. *1965 - Pepsi unveils the "Ya-Hooo!" Mountain Dew promotion. At this time, the Mountain Dew label is redesigned to be more humorous, featuring Willy the Hillbilly and the phrase "It'll tickle yore innards!" Pepsi also orders all distributors of Mountain Dew to stop using their names on them. '1970's' *1973 - Pepsi completely alters Mountain Dew's packaging, abandoning the "hillbilly" look and changing the logo for the first time since the drink's creation to appeal to a "younger, outdoorsy generation." *1976 - Caffeine-Free Mountain Dew is introduced. It is the first additional drink on the Mountain Dew line. '1980's' *1980's - Aurora and Golden Lime are released exclusively to Japan, becoming the first international-only release. * 1984 - With the growing trend in America of weight-watching, a Sugar-Free Mountain Dew is released, using an all-red variant of the standard packaging. *1986 - Sugar-Free Mountain Dew is then renamed Diet Mountain Dew, using a green and white-stripped variant of the standard packaging. *1988 - Mountain Dew Red is introduced for test marketing in Alabama, and is the first Mountain Dew flavor variant. A Diet version is also tested alongside it. Both are discontinued this same year. *1989 - Mountain Dew Sport has a test release on shelves. '1990's' *1990's - Dry Ginger is released in Japan. *1990 - Following its successful test release, Mountain Dew Sport returns to shelves, along with a 2-calorie variant and Diet variant. *1991 - All versions of Mountain Dew Sport are completely removed from shelves. *1996 - Mountain Dew's logo is changed to a similar, but less-wavy one. *1996 - Production of Mountain Dew spreads to the United Kingdom. *1998 - This U.K. production is now ended due to bad sales. *1999 - The Mountain Dew logo is changed once again, this time to a more-drastically angled one. The packaging also changes, now using a green swirl design. '2000's' *2001 - The cherry-flavored Mountain Dew Code Red joins the Mountain Dew line as the first flavor variant ever distributed nationally. *2001 - Pepsi releases Amp Energy a mixed-citrus-flavored energy drink with packaging that read "From Mountain Dew." *2002 - Following Code Red's success and high demand, a Diet Code Red is released. *June 2002 - Mountain Dew Blue Shock is released as a limited-edition Slurpee flavor in 7-Eleven stores. *2003 - The orange-flavored Mountain Dew Live Wire briefly joins the line for a summer-only release. *2004 - Taco Bell restaurants begin carrying the tropical-lime-flavored Mountain Dew Baja Blast in their drink fountains, which is chemically formulated to taste good with their food. *2004 - Mountain Dew Live Wire returns for a second summer release. *2004 - For the Halloween season, the black grape-flavored Mountain Dew Pitch Black is temporarily added to the Mountain Dew line. *2005 - The Mountain Dew packaging is redesigned, this time featuring a more rounded, pointy logo, and smooth design on a dark green background. *2005 - Darth Dew is released to promote the movie "Star Wars Episode III." *2005 - Following test marketing by online participants, Mountain Dew MDX is released in hopes of competing with Coca-Cola's Vault energy drinks. *2005 - After its successful summer releases in the previous two years, Mountain Dew Live Wire returns to shelves as a permanent addition to the line. *2005 - Code Red and Pitch Black (renamed "Wild Black) are released to South Korea for a limited time. *2005 - Again for the Halloween season, Mountain Dew releases another limited-edition flavor, Pitch Black II, which uses the Pitch Black flavor from the previous year, but with an added sour bite. *2006 - Mountain Dew MDX begins using 20 oz. bottles that have a grip-like shape for holding. *2006 - Over the course of this year, the Mountain Dew Arctic Burst and Kryptonite Ice Slurpee flavors are released for a limited time to promote the movie "Superman Returns." *2006 - The original Pitch Black flavor returns for a limited time, this time as a Slurpee flavor. *2007 - Production of Mountain Dew MDX is phased out. *2007 - The Green Label Art promotion is launched, and limited-edition aluminum cans of Mountain Dew are release, featuring artwork by artistic fans. *August 2007 - To coincide with the release of the video game Halo 3, Mountain Dew Game Fuel is released in both drink and Slurpee forms for a 12-week period, with packaging that feature's the game's logo and main character - Master Chief. *November 2007 - The first DEWmocracy campaign is launched, which is centered around the idea of Mountain Dew drinkers designing the next permanent flavor on the line. A website is launched, on which fans create profiles to play a role-playing game to select attributes that they believe would make the perfect Mountain Dew drink (flavor, logo, name, color, etc.) *January 2008 - DEWmocracy enters its second phase, and three flavor finalists are chosen. The flavors are then given colors, designs, and names - Revolution, SuperNova, and Voltage. *2008 - Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo) reveals the Doritos Quest promotion, in which a line of mystery-flavored Doritos are produced, and fans are to guess what the flavor actually is. Later this year, the flavor is revealed to be Mountain Dew. *2008 - Mountain Dew Blue Shock returns permanently, again as a Slurpee flavor. The word "Freeze" is added to the name. *Summer 2008 - The DEWmocracy trio is released to shelves for a limited time, with packaging encouraging drinkers to try all three and then vote for their favorite on the DEWmocracy website. By August, voting had ended and Voltage was announced to be the winner, thus becoming permanent. *2008 - Green Label Sound is launched - a music label to help lesser-known artists gain broader exposure. *October 2008 - It is discovered that Pepsi products will be undergoing a product redesign. Image trademarks are found, including upcoming logos and label designs for Mountain Dew using an abbreviated "Mtn Dew" style. * December 2008 - Mountain Dew Voltage officially joins the other flavors as a permanent flavor. *2009 - A revised "Mtn Dew" logo and packaging design is revealed and begins to be found on the original Mountain Dew flavor and Diet Mountain Dew products. All new or returning flavors from here on also use variations of this logo. *April 20, 2009 - Mountain Dew Throwback and Pepsi Throwback are released for 8 weeks, using natural sugar in place of high-fructose corn syrup, and retro packaging designs. *April 2009 - Copyrights for future diet-exclusive flavors of Mountain Dew are found - "Mtn Dew Ultra Violet" and "Mtn Dew White Flash." *June 8, 2009 - Mountain Dew Game Fuel returns for 8-10 weeks, along with a new Wild Fruit-flavored companion flavor. Both are used to promote the MMORPG World of Warcraft. *July 2009 - Mountain Dew officially begins the second DEWmocracy campaign with a traveling tour to 17 U.S. cities and by mailing flavor kits to select fans, allowing participants to taste test a variety of flavors and decide on which they would like to see become permanent. From this, three flavor finalists were chosen: Lime Blasted Dew, Punch of Tropical Dew, and Smooth Citrus Dew. *July 2009 - Dew Labs is officially launched, inviting die-hard fans to join and help with deciding the colors, names, and designs of the three flavor finalists. *August 10, 2009 - Mountain Dew releases its first Diet-exclusive flavor, the Diet Ultra Violet, for a 10-week period. *2009 - Wienerschnitzel restaurants begin carrying Mountain Dew Cherry Fusion in fountains. *2009 - A new Slurpee flavor - Mountain Dew Thin Ice Freeze is released to 7-Eleven stores. *December 28, 2009 - Both Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback return to shelves for another 8-week run, with updated packaging now featuring older designs. Mountain Dew Throwback's formula has also been modified from its original release. '2010 - Present' *2010 - Adrenaline Mountain Dew is released in Poland, Romania, and Norway. *2010 - The grape-flavored X-Treme is released to several middle-eastern areas for a limited time. *April 19, 2010 - The DEWmocracy trio is officially released across the United States, and the voting website is launched. Fans nationwide are encouraged to try the three flavors - Distortion (lime), Typhoon (tropical punch), and White Out (smooth citrus) - and vote for their favorite each day. *Summer 2010 - Testing of the Sidekick Bottles begins in select states. *June 2010 - Mountain Dew Energy is released in the United Kingdom and Ireland, using a modified version of the original formula to meet their strict regulatory standards. *June 14, 2010 - The DEWmocracy voting period ends, and the three flavors are phased out of stores. It is announced within the next couple of days that White Out is the official winner, holding 44% of the votes. Typhoon had come in second place, holding 40% of the votes, and Distortion in third with 16% of the votes. *July 2010 - Throwback returns to shelves again for 5 weeks, followed by an announcement that it would stay on shelves as long as sales were good. *September 2010 - The Honor the Code promotion is launched, and each flavor temporarily receives special packaging to promote [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Reach Halo Reach]. *October 2010 - Mountain Dew White Out officially joins the other flavors as a permanent flavor. *October 2010 - The FanDEWmonium promotion is officially announced, and Diet Dew fans are encouraged to go online and to online and choose from various flavors which ones they would like to become the next permanent Diet flavor. From this, 8 semi-finalists were chosen: Diet Distortion, Diet Crave, Diet Flare, Diet Ultra Violet, Diet Typhoon, Diet White Out, Diet Voltage, and Diet Supernova. These flavors were taste-tested by Dew Labs members and tour attendees. *October 2010 - The is created! *December 2010 - Throwback returns once again, this time as a permanent flavor. *2011 - Mountain Dew Energy is introduced to Ireland. *2011 - The Mountain Dew Coolatta is released. *2011 - Mountain Dew Grape is released to Japan. *January 12, 2011 - Mountain Dew announces plans to return previous flavors to shelves in May, mentioning 2004's Pitch Black in particular. Pitch Black is promoted heavily with tours and giveaways. *March 2011 - FanDEWmonium finalists Diet Voltage and Diet Supernova are released to stores for an 8-week period with fans encouraged to vote on which they preferred; Diet Supernova has announced the winner, holding 55% of the votes. *April 2011 - It is revealed that non-Diet Supernova and Typhoon will both be returning alongside Pitch Black as a part of the Back by Popular DEWmand promotion. *May 2011 - The existing flavors of Mountain Dew began undergoing packaging changes, receiving new designs that use the "Mtn Dew" style. *May 2, 2011 - Back by Popular DEWmand is launched, and Pitch Black and Supernova are returned to store shelves, and Typhoon is exclusively released to WalMart Stores. * May 16, 2011 - Pitch Black, Live Wire, and Voltage (renamed "Electro Shock") are launched in New Zealand. *June 2011 - Mountain Dew launches an interactive website, The Throwback Shack, on which fans can enter to win one-of-a-kind Dew-themed prizes. Among these prizes is a secret stash of Revolution. *June 2011 - The Loot for Labels promotion is launched, allowing fans to mail-in Mountain Dew labels in exchange for exclusive merchandise. *July 2011 - Back By Popular DEWmand ends, and the returning flavors leave shelves once again. *August 2011 - A Pepsi employee posts an auction on eBay for two unopened and unreleased Game Fuel flavors, leading to many rumors spreading about a possible return of the promotion. *August 24, 2011 - Mountain Dew officially announces these new Game Fuel flavors on their Facebook page, mentioning that they will promote the then-upcoming game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Modern_Warfare_3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3] *October 10, 2011 - The original Citrus Cherry Game Fuel flavor returns to shelves along with a new Tropical-flavored counterpart, both using packaging to promote the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and featuring codes that granted players double experience points in-game when entered on the Double XP website. Both flavors stay on shelves through December, when the promotion then ends. *December 2011 - Dew Labs members are asked to partake in a poll to decide the name and design an upcoming Malt-flavored variant. *January 18, 2012 - The usage of Sidekick Bottles begin to spread to other U.S. regions. *January 30, 2012 - Diet Supernova returns to shelves, and the Fuel the Frenzy promotion begins, which allows fans to enter codes found on Diet Supernova, original Mountain Dew, and Diet Mountain Dew to enter for chances to win exclusive prizes. *February 23, 2012 - The Mountain Dew line is relaunched in Canada. The drink now contains caffeine, and use Diet Mountain Dew is also available there for the first time. The Canadian line also begins using new logos similar to the current American one and can only be found in Sidekick Bottles. *March 25, 2012 - A low-resolution image of a possible new flavor 12-pack box is posted onto the image-sharing app Instagram. *April 8, 2012 - Fuel the Frenzy ends, and Diet Supernova is discontinued due to poor sales in its limited release. *May 14, 2012 - After much speculation, Mountain Dew officially announces Dark Berry, an upcoming flavor to be released as a part of their partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' then-upcoming film [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Rises The Dark Knight Rises]. * June 12, 2012 - White Out is released to Japan in 500ml bottles. *June 18, 2012 - The DewGothamCity promotion is launched, Dark Berry is released, and select Mountain Dew products received temporary packaging upgrades to feature The Dark Knight Rises logos and codes that could be redeemed on the website to gain access to exclusive movie content and merchandise. This promotion officially ended on August 12. *July 13, 2012 - Mountain Dew officially announces that it will be releasing Johnson City Gold, the malt-flavored variant, for a test release in select cities. *August 2012 - The Dub The Dew promotion is silently launched, allowing fans to name a new Green Apple-flavored drink to be distributed at Villa Pizza restaurants. The promotion is then suspended and the website is taken down after a series of attacks by online communities. *August 9, 2012 - The Regional Dew promotion is launched at YourMaltDew.com, allowing fans to create potential names and labels that Johnson City Gold will use in an upcoming nationwide release. *August 27, 2012 - A YouTube video is uploaded by a Pepsi employee, showing an upcoming and unreleased Citrus Cherry Game Fuel bottle with packaging on the bottle featuring artwork and logos for the upcoming [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_4 Halo 4] video game. The bottle also seems to feature the Dew XP logo, indicating codes will be featured on the bottles as well. *August 31, 2012 - Mountain Dew confirms that they will be promoting Halo 4 via their official Facebook page, and give the date of October 1 for more details to be revealed. *October 15, 2012 - Game Fuel (Citrus Cherry) begins appearing on store shelves again, and all Mountain Dew products begin using Halo 4-themed packaging with codes to be redeemed for in-game experience on the official website. The promotion lasts until January 2013. *October 15, 2012 - Passionfruit Frenzy is released to New Zealand, replacing Pitch Black. * February 25, 2013 - A new line of Mountain Dew flavor variants are released: Kickstart (Orange Citrus) and Kickstart (Fruit Punch), targeted at the breakfast audience. * May 20, 2013 - The Iconic Summer promotion launches, where people take codes from specially marked Pepsi and Mountain Dew products to redeem them for "icons". * July 2013 - Certain fans are given the opportunity to test a new flavor labeled "Goji Strawberry." * August 2013 - Britvic, under the license of PepsiCo., releases Mountain Dew AMP in the UK. It should be noted that this United Kingdom version of Amp Energy is released under the 'Mountain Dew' brand with a UK-unique new logo. * September 26, 2013 - Distortion Freeze and Typhoon Freeze are released to U.S. Taco Bell locations. * October 2013 - The Goji Strawberry flavor, under the name "Mountain Dew Game Fuel Electrifying Berry", is released to stores alongside the original Game Fuel (Citrus Cherry) flavor as part of the Every2Minutes promotion. Electrifying Berry promotes Ryse: Son of Rome ''while Citrus Cherry promotes ''Dead Rising 3. * October 2013 - Images of 2 new Kickstart flavors are leaked: Kickstart (Black Cherry) and Kickstart (Limeade). They are geared towards nighttime consumption - in contrast to the first two Kickstart flavors being for morning consumption. * October 2013 - A new freeze flavor - Mountain Dew Cold Fusion Freeze - is released to U.S. Sheetz stores. * December 2013 - Taco Bell fountains begin carrying Diet Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast. * March 2014 - Images begin to leak of Baja Blast's bottled form. * March 2014 - Kickstart (Black Cherry) Freeze is released to Taco Bell restaurants, replacing Distortion Freeze. * May 5, 2014 - Baja Blast is officially released in bottles and cans, coinciding with the Baja or Bust promotion. * May 2014 - With no announcement whatsoever, Game Fuel (Citrus Cherry) returns to stores in both 12-pack boxes and 20 oz. bottles! Oddly enough, the packaging lacks any promotion for a certain game as well as anything indicating that its a limited release. * May 2014 - A new flavor known as Solar Flare appears in 7-Eleven fountain machines. * July 2014 - White Out is released to New Zealand, replacing Electro Shock. * July 14, 2014 - A Pepsi distributor website posts an announcement of a new flavor known as Game Fuel (Lemonade), slating a release period of August of that year. * July 30, 2014 - Images begin leaking of Game Fuel (Lemonade)'s bottle and box designs. * October 2014 - A new freeze flavor - Mountain Dew Electric Charge Freeze - is released to U.S. Sheetz stores. * October 6, 2014 - As part of the Fuel Up For Battle promotion, Game Fuel (Citrus Cherry) and Game Fuel (Lemonade) is released to stores, promoting the game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. * November 2014 - Mountain Dew begins holding "Dewitos" taste testing on select U.S. college campuses. * January 2015 - Kickstart (Strawberry Kiwi) and Kickstart (Pineapple Orange Mango) are released to stores. The new flavor variants contain coconut water as well as 10% juice. * January 2015 - Instagram user Calipepsi posts a photo leaking a possible second store release of Baja Blast, accompanied by the debut store release of Sangrita Blast. Category:Featured Articles